Roma in Serbia still do not have equal access to quality education. Roma children are more increasingly present in the school system in Serbia, which shows that there is a trend in decreasing differences among pupils.Inclusion should make education more accessible and of better quality for Roma children. Serbia is on the right track to achieve this. It started with introducing Roma assistants in teaching, who would help Roma children fit into the educational system. The introduction of elements of national cultures, including Romani, would make schooling much more attractive to Roma children, because it would reflect their living environment and contribute to a better acceptance of Roma children by other children and teachers.The first part of the paper with descriptive method tells about the status of the Roma in Serbia and their problems in education, as well as ways to improve the conditions of their education. Statistical method was used to display present and situation in past. Experimental part of this paper demonstrates attitudes of primary and secondary school teachers in Novi Sad, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, about the inclusion of Roma children in education.

Lecture-based teaching is still the prevalent form of teaching in almost all secondary schools in Serbia. Although active teaching cannot eliminate all the shortcomings in the teaching of Geography, this particular form gives the best opportunities for understanding individual abilities and preferences of students. The principal aim of the study was to explore which way of teaching (modern-active or traditional-passive) is more beneficial for motivating students' learning and acquiring competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) in Geography. Research was conducted to analyse competencies acquired by selected high school students through the application of certain didactic principles in the third grade of Grammar school "Laza Kostić" (Novi Sad, Serbia) with the topic "Hydrography of Serbia". Fieldwork investigation was comprised of conducted survey questionnaire (with pupils evaluating motivation and participation in the process of teaching Geography, as well as activities and learning/acquiring certain geographical content through selected didactic principles, forms, methods, and tools) and the competency test. Descriptive statistics was used for calculating the percentage and average values. The independent t-test was used in order to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group regarding the self-evaluation of motivation, participation in teaching, and learning. The difference in terms of acquiring competencies between experimental and control groups was explored by the Chi-square test (χ2). In order to determine whether there is a correlation between self-evaluation in terms of motivation, cooperation, and learning, as well as in the knowledge test between the experimental and control groups, Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) has been calculated. The results indicate that the students have higher level of motivation, and are more interested in learning and acquiring knowledge when the teacher organises the lecture through active learning techniques. The knowledge and skills resulting from these kinds of classes are higher. Also, the results obtained from this type of experimental classes, showed that with an increase of skills and abil-ities, there is no increase in knowledge implying that modern (active) teaching presented better results than the traditional teaching format, but not in all analysed segments.

The textbook is one of the elementary teaching aids. It is a very efficient aid utilized to transfer information of the instructional content. Illustrations are a part of the didactic apparatus, contributing to apparentness. Contemporary geography textbooks cannot be imagined without adequate supplementary illustrations. Supplementary illustrations should be clear and unburdened by superfluous details. They should be a sort of an addition to the main text and provide the necessary information of the instructional content. In order to acquire a better view of the level of usefulness of supplementary illustrations in learning process, a research was carried out in nine schools. The textbook utilized to analyze supplementary illustrations was the textbook for the fifth grade of primary school. Students were asked about the usefulness of supplementary illustrations in learning new material and in independent learning. Additionally, questions were related to the usefulness of supplementary illustrations in reiterating material as well. Statistical data processing produced results that corroborated the tremendous significance of correctly and properly selected supplementary illustrations in geography textbooks.

The aim of this research was to ascertain the competencies of grammar school students who learn geographic features of Europe by applying selected didactical principles. The research included 2nd grade students of "Laza Kostić" Grammar School in Novi Sad (North Serbia). Selected classess were divided into two groups of students. The experimental group teaching was performed through traditionally lecturebased teaching in the classroom with the main usage of principles of intuition and science. The control group learned through group form of teaching with the main usage of principles of interesting and attractiveness and conscious activities of students. A questionnaire containing 15 statements was used while teaching the experimental lessons. This questionnaire (based on the Likert-type 5 point scale) has been drawn up and it included a survey where students evaluated motivation and participation in the process of teaching geography or activities and learning/acquiring certain geographic content using selected didactic principles, forms, methods and tools. There was a test, which consisted of 9 questions of different levels of cognitive domains of learning -knowledge, skills and abilities. In order to determine whether there is a correlation between self-evaluation of the level of motivation, participation and learning, the self-evaluation of the level of motivation, participation and the knowledge test between the experimental and control group, Pearson correlation coefficient was determined. The results show that the level of students' reproductive knowledge remains the same in research-based traditional and modern teaching, but the problem-solving skills and abilities related to selected geographical features improved within experimental group of students.